Skip to content

And nobody told me?

Menu
  • About
  • Contact
Menu

Strike Anywhere

January 30, 2023January 19, 2023

Do you remember teaching yourself to strike a paper match? Learning the right amount of pressure, the pinch on the hard chemicals then the snap and the deft finger lift away from the air that would be sucked into flame. Maybe a quick curve of the hand to shield it from the wind?

Each matchbook was from somewhere or someone. The cover told a story (and maybe a bonus handwritten one inside) and held the promises of the 20 cardboard sticks. Failure: bearing down too hard, scraping off the goods with no fire to show for it. Failure: giving in and using the matchbook back in a shameful foldover. Fire has nothing to do with riding the brake.

Before striking became muscle memory, you paid attention. You knew your finger was exactly where fire would soon break free, depending on your timing. You knew you could get burnt, or set the whole thing aflame.

You knew flinching killed everything.

I once sat at a firepit watching a woman start a campfire. She had a hard time getting it going. Kindling was damp and she grew frustrated. She wore the powder off of a few matches. Finally, though, she did it, it caught, but before she was sure the heat would catch the biggest logs she chucked the whole book in the pit. We heard it crack and sizzle, but it wasn’t thrilling at all. It felt like a precarious waste.

Not because the matches were gone–we weren’t in a survival situation, we didn’t need to conserve the firestarters, and even if that fire extinguished we weren’t at any risk. But after working so hard for the fire, wouldn’t you rather save the matches, or at least strike each one with your own hands and watch them burn? Why, if you had fire in your hands, would you throw the whole thing away?

I’ve done that so many times, in so many other ways. Matchbooks are open all around me. I’m begging myself not to flinch.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Defacer
  • The Memes of Summer
  • Hands Joined Forever In Wax
  • Rotten
  • Uncanny Valley

Recent Comments

  1. Kathy on Wherein I Explain What Offsides Means to You
  2. Ellie on Wherein I Explain What Offsides Means to You
  3. Gwen on My Beautiful Gulf of Mexico, the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea

Tools

DrFone
Code by imei

© 2023 And nobody told me? | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme